Category: Viewpoint

Writers Hans Rosenfeldt and Camilla Ahlgren promised great things with the final series of this international Scandi hit and viewers arrived back on the iconic Øresund Bridge with high hopes for our heroes Saga Noren (Sofia Helin) and Henrik Sabroe (Thure Lindhardt). Were they the awesome crime-fighting duo we’d seen at the end of series 3? Were they working together to solve the disappearance of Henrik’s daughters? Well, yes and no.

The series begins with Saga behind bars serving time for her wicked mother’s murder, patiently awaiting a re-trial. We know she didn’t do it, but how on earth can a cop with such limited social skills survive the system unscathed? Devoted Henrik who is trying hard to turn his life around is a frequent visitor. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder – their relationship seems much stronger than ever before. And a good job too, as there are some incredible storms to weather in this series – new highs and desperately tragic lows that are quite alien to Saga’s usual even keel. There’s heartbreak for all here, especially Saga as she finally has to confront her dreadful abusive childhood, and how it’s shaped her adult life. Saga in therapy is powerhouse acting from Sofia Helin, pushing at the limited scope in her character’s movements and facial expressions. I’ve not seen more entertaining and revealing therapy sessions since The Sopranos.

The mighty Jontosaurus is risen. Fear him! And also, read his top 5 The Walking Dead deaths and feel all squishy inside for gore of yore…

AMC’S The Walking Dead is in a dark place right now, with viewing figures at their lowest point since season 1. Reviews of season 8 have been remorseless, but there can be no denying that throughout the show’s massive run there have been some truly memorable characters that have perished in some truly memorable ways. And, in the case of Glenn, there have been about ten times we’ve thought he was going to die, only for him to turn up alive- sometimes without a whole lot of explanation. So, in honor of Glenn- God rest his fictional soul- here is a rundown of The Official Jontosaurus Top Five Memorable TWD Deaths Of All Time. As always, this is based purely on personal opinion, so please don’t be offended if your ‘favourite’ doesn’t make it in. Oh, and it goes without saying… but there may be spoilers ahead for those of you who have been living in a cave for the last few years. To be fair, I will try and avoid the most recent two or three seasons just to play it safe.

Hershel Loses His Head

“When all others lose theirs…” didn’t seem to be part of the plan for Hershel, who definitely loses his head, albeit in a clumsy and ultimately tragic way. Used as a sort of bargaining chip during The Governor’s assault on the prison, he is dragged out and negotiated over like a piece of meat. Just when it seems as though the adorable, well reasoned old man is going to pull through, the series decides to take a drastic U turn. As Maggie and Beth’s father, Hershel has already lost a leg due to a Walker bite, and although he looks about as resilient as a water paper bag, he’s clearly a tough old dog who isn’t ready to throw in the towel just because the apocalypse has reared its ugly head. Unfortunately, the Big Bad in form of David Morrissey’s The Governor has other ideas, and after a drawn-out affair, he grabs a samurai sword- a very familiar samurai sword for that matter- and lops off the old man’s head. What makes this scene so unexpected is that it leaps upon us as viewers just when we think the old man may be spared, and it also shows the removal of the head in graphic detail. We watch as the Governor messes up his first chop, only partly severing the neck, and all the while the dying Hershel just sort of kneels there, serene and untroubled, as his head is cut off. Truly harrowing but, sadly, not the most harrowing death on this list.

The promise of a shock is an excellent hook. Who can resist? We might not admit it but we’re all interested to see freakish behaviour in others and we’d love to know what goes on behind closed doors. This compulsion is at least half the reason for the success of Big Brother and other supposed ‘reality’ tv shows. As an audience we don’t want to be calmed or soothed or reassured; we want to be shocked! We want to be outraged or astonished or moved in some way. And for quite a lot of people, the darker the better.

This is also why the most outrageous actions are always on the advert. A good recent example is Bear Grylls’ vehicle The Island. The voiceover says “someone is going to die” and a contestant falls of a rocky cliff! OMG! What happened? Did he die? Tune in to find out! Well no, of course he didn’t die and he didn’t suffer any major injuries either (despite the consensus that he was an awful person and probably deserved getting bashed up a bit). Do you think even in 2016 they would have been allowed to broadcast an accidental death on a reality show? No. Obviously not. But in that moment, in that 30 second advert, we are swept up in the supposed drama and we HAVE to know what happens!

This week I have been thinking about all sorts of telly. Comedy in particular, which is a pretty all encompassing description when you think about it. What is it? In Shakespearian parlance it meant a play that ended in a marriage. It could be farce. It could be sketches. It’s very often character driven. It’s so many things. On reflection I prefer a sit com to dramas. I sat through the much lauded Doctor Foster because Hubby wanted me to watch with him but it just was so …well…miserable. Suranne Jones stropping around just didn’t do it for me (a little bit controversial there). I tried The Night Manager because, well, Hugh Laurie ­and just the other day, Undercover because well, Adrian Lester. But I know I won’t stay the course. Heck I couldn’t even invest in Downton Abbey. I’m saving my concentration for Game of Thrones (Sky Atlantic, 9pm 25th April).

Andrew has hit the nail on the head with this reivew of the abysmally poor Muppets reboot. I was excited they were coming back and it was being picked up by Sky in the UK. But when they trailed the fact that Kermit and Piggy were breaking up it was a red flag. Worse still when it turned out Kermit’s new girlfriend Denise was younger, thinner and less outrageous than his old flame. And also a pig. A pig! He can’t help himself can he? That frog has some serious issues.

I am and always have been Team Piggy. I would like very much to be her when I grow up. Mr H would probably say I’m exactly like her right now and don’t need to change at all. I want to perfect the hair-tossing flounce – Harumph!

The viewing public were not happy with this break-up. Fictional and felt they may be, but these characters are very imporant to people the world over. The fans watched, and continued to watch hoping that something would work. But it didn’t. The Muppets have always been about rebellion, and sticking their middle finger (paw?) up at to man. They’re always putting on one last charity show to save the Muppet Theatre from fat-cat developers for the love of it, but now they’re working in late night tv (Up Late With Miss Piggy) that love has gone.

And we don’t love it anymore, and that’s a real shame.

As Andrew says, I hope the team behind this flop get the message. We still love The Muppets and their crazy mad-cap joie de vivre but this was not the format for them. Try again please, and do it better!

I’m a little behind with what is on my DVR so I’m watching the Disneyland 60 special that was on the other week. Kermit the Frog came on and did his song The Rainbow Connection that I absolutely adore. He did it with some girl that has an amazing voice and I don’t remember her name (Tori Kelly perhaps?). Anyway, no offense to her, but shes not important to what I’m getting at. As I was watching this I was smiling like an idiot because The Muppets mean so much to me. I love the movies, the shows, and the songs. When I heard about the new TV show that ABC was putting out I was beyond excited. That was until I started to hear more and more about it.

The show was going to be filmed in the same style that The Office was. I didn’t like the office…

I read a really inspiring blog post last week about the importance of tv comedy. Sarah at Gracefully Falling Upwards wrote about how comedy changed her life; how it helped her laugh and feel ok during a particularly dark and difficult time in her life. She says:

“Comedy was there for me when I didn’t have the words to tell anyone how I felt. Comedy was there to make me laugh on the days that I didn’t even want to get out of bed. Comedy made me feel like the world wasn’t always so dark and painful and that eventually it does get better.”

This really resonated with me. When I was little I was pretty awkward and quite lonely. I found solace in books, rather than tv. I still do. Along side trying to keep up to date with great tv shows, and finding the time to write about them for you folks, my challenge is to read 70 books this year! (You can follow my progress at GoodReads). Basically I’m going to spend so much time sitting this year I might develop DVT!

Ladies and gentlemen of the internet. Come on a journey with me to the dark side – a cavernous living room where there’s no focal point, where sofas sit facing each other… a world in which all of the pixels are dead! Witness the insufferable smugness!

We know them, we come across them in all walks of life – the uber-poseurs (the ones who know it really should be written über). They lean in to you over their flat white, and bristle your arm slightly with their elegantly tailored Belstaff coat as they smirk and say “Oh no, I haven’t got a television” BEFORE THEY’VE EVEN BEEN ASKED. You swear you didn’t ask the question, or even think it, but they’re desperate to tell you about it. They’re like the vegans of the entertainment world.